Pawprints in the Sand
by Min Henri
Summary: Nightpaw was just a lonely apprentice. All alone, she thought she was fine. It wasn't until she met the ones who would change her life that she learned to be truly content with the way she was. But her friendship and stability is experimented with when the lives of her friends and the clans go spiraling down into darkness. All Nightpaw knows is her world is slowly falling apart.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: Happy birthday BunnyClan! This is for the forum known as BunnyClan's one year birthday on November 12th. This story will also be a larger project of mine that I will continue. Feel free to give constructive criticism and, well, please enjoy reading the first chapter!)**

In early green leaf I was born in the dead of the night, all that was making my presence known was gray flickers upon my black coat and gleaming yellow eyes. Based upon my appearance and my time of birth, I was given the name Nightkit. While my mother and father did belong to the clan I live in now, one day they suddenly disappeared with barely a trace left behind. Nobody hardly ever spoke word of my parents, so I don't know much about them other than my mother had a brother who without second thought took me as his daughter with his mate. That was all the clan wanted me to know. Yet I am still happy to be living and breathing in the fresh air of the oak-scented forest belonging to ThunderClan.

Growing up as an apprentice, I didn't have many friends. The only apprentices were my cousins, Icepaw and Snowpaw, as well as a she-cat named Brindlepaw. While I wanted to become friends with everybody, it was extremely hard. I was always failing to impress each and every clan member around by attempting crazy stunts and telling what I thought were funny jokes. At some times, no, at _most_ times, I felt I was extremely overshadowed by Icepaw and Snowpaw. Jaggedtail, my previously mentioned mother's brother, seemed to love me as equally as his own children, but his mate Dovefeather always seemed to show mere love towards me, but adoration towards her offspring. I guess I can hardly blame her, though. It's something nobody can help.

Two moons after I was made an apprentice, I had been sitting in silence with Brindlepaw in the apprentices' den on a rainy day. Icepaw and Snowpaw had gone off into the elders' den to see if the elders inside had remembered any new stories to tell them, so it was just the sweet brown brindled and I, awkwardly sitting together. I couldn't bring myself to say anything, so we were simply sitting for quite awhile, our pelts shaking from the intense cold breezes coming through the entrance of the den.

"So, um, do you want to do anything?" I asked after I couldn't stand the stiff silence between us anymore. Brindlepaw looked over at me with a small smile.

"Well, it would be nice to do something, wouldn't it?" she responded, blinking sparkling amber eyes at me. I was a little surprised she wanted to talk to me, the awkward apprentice with a simple colored pelt and bland eyes.

"Yeah, it would," I said, thinking quickly for an adequate reply. Brindlepaw nodded slightly, and for a moment I thought our conversation was already over as we began to hang in silence once more. Luckily, she spoke again, letting a sense of relief wash over me that we could continue to talk.

"Can I ask you question, Nightpaw?" she asked, turning towards me with the same smile she had had from earlier. At first, I was a little surprised by the sudden use of my name.

"Sure."

"Would you like to join my clan?" My yellow eyes widened slightly, a little confused by her question. Clan? I didn't know what to think at first, so I sat quietly, trying to think. Brindlepaw filled in the silence for me once more.

"I started it with my friend Claypaw from ShadowClan at the last gathering! While it's only for fun, I think it's still quite nice," her eyes glimmered with more and more excitement as she went on. After just a heartbeat of her offer hanging still in the air, I gave her a grin.

"Why not? I'll join!" I responded, knowing I had finally found a friend. Brindlepaw began to beam primly, her already bright amber eyes brighter than ever before.

"Just one question," I asked, pausing for a heartbeat,"what's the name of your clan?"

"BunnyClan," the brindled she-cat said without hesitation, still holding her beam.


	2. Chapter 2

"BunnyClan, huh? I like that name!" I responded, fluffing out my black and gray flecked fur as another breeze passed through the den. Brindlepaw looked like she was about to burst with excitement, happiness, and pride. Which also made me feel like _I_ was going to burst with excitement, happiness, and pride. We just sat there for a couple heartbeats, both grinning like mousebrains.

From that moment on, Brindlepaw and I acted like sisters. We would do everything together, and when the other was in trouble, the other would cover for us...well, we were most likely _both_ in trouble if the other was. Each night we would eat prey together and chatter like there was no tomorrow. When our names were called out to attend the gathering, I felt a rush of excitement to meet Claypaw, as Brindlepaw told me she would hold a small and quick meeting for BunnyClan before the gathering began if her ShadowClan friend was there. Even though there was a chance that there might be no meeting for BunnyClan, I still held my hopes high.

As the chosen cats to attend the gathering journeyed along, the soft sound of the patters of pawsteps followed us all the way to the island the four clans shared. As we reached the bridge, I carelessly rushed forward along with Brindlepaw. We could barely contain ourselves as we made it across the bridge, despite the hollering of our clanmates telling us to slow down and be careful. At the end we simply giggled and skipped along about the island, our eyes seeking to find ShadowClan.

"I don't think they're here yet..." Brindlepaw said after just a few heartbeats of searching. I guess it was obvious; I only saw the naturally slim WindClan cats and plump RiverClan cats through my green eyes. I had only just about been to speak when Dovefeather rushed over to me.

"Oh goodness, Nightpaw! You simply can't attend a gathering like that," the silver tabby queen told me as she began to groom my pelt. I aimed to dodge and hide from her tongue, but her tongue still found me anyways.

"Dovefeather, I'm nine moons old! I can groom myself!" I exclaimed, trying to sneak away, embarrassment heating my fur as I heard Brindlepaw's soft giggles from beside me.

"Then prove it," the queen simply responded before turning away to go find Jaggedtail. I sighed in relief before finishing off my pelt with a few licks, Brindlepaw grinning at me.

"What's so funny?" I asked, turning my head towards my brindled peer. She just shook her head, her grin still staying delicately placed upon her maw. I sighed once more, hoping she had a different response than just that.

"You and your mother are so cute!" Brindlepaw replied, giggling once more. I was about to tell her that I didn't like her being referred to as my mother when the sound of paws beating against the ground came. The immediate and harsh stench of pine forests and marsh hit me, forcing me to scrunch my face up. Brindlepaw, however, didn't seem to mind it. She instead raced towards the scent and merged into the crowd, but soon returned with a pale gray she-cat with striking yellow eyes and a single tuft of white fur on the top of her head.

"Nightpaw, this is Claypaw! Claypaw, this is Nightpaw!" Brindlepaw puffed, chest heaving as if she had done an entire training session trying to find the ShadowClan apprentice in such short time. I tried to straighten myself, a little shocked over the strong scent the feline carried with her.

"Hello, Nightpaw. Brindlepaw told me you would like to join BunnyClan!" Claypaw said with a smile, swishing her fluffy tail in the air before taking a seat. Unable to speak from fear of messing up my words or saying the wrong thing, I nodded after clearing my throat. I saw Brindlepaw's mouth open to speak just before the yowls of the RiverClan leader sounded out, informing the cats below him that the gathering was beginning.

"Bye..." Brindlepaw whispered to Claypaw, obvious exasperation hinging her voice, before stormily padding away to the group of ThunderClan cats. I did the same, following my light brown brindled friend as she left. Frustration hinted her eyes as she plopped down beside a similar brindled she-cat to her, who I knew for a fact as her mother. I delicately took a seat, not wanting to appear moody around the brindled queen.

"Greetings, my dear. And hello, Nightpaw!"

"Hello, Sweetfern..." Brindeplaw murmured, still grumpy, eyes turned away from her mother but instead looking at Claypaw from across the island.

"Well, you always seem to confirm your anger whenever you call me by name instead of 'Mother'," the taller she-cat whispered with a hint of humor just before RiverClan began their report of their clan. Their leader, Reedstar, stepped forward with something I could only call confidence as he began to speak in a deep, rumbling tone of voice.

"RiverClan has been well, recently, as I hope you can tell," he began, motioning towards his well-fed clanmates with a tilt of his head before continuing,"We have had plentiful prey as well as peace, the main aspiration of all clans." The cats in the crowd began to mumble, some a little taken aback by his assertiveness. Reedstar payed no mind to this continued his report anyway.

"RiverClan also has two wonderful new apprentices; Owlpaw and Russetpaw!" The crowd of cats quit their mumbling and instead began to loudly cheer the new apprentices' names. As I looked around, my eyes fell upon a deep brown she-cat with matching brown eyes as well as a ginger-brown she-cat, who seemed to be the ones everybody was cheering for. The two would be identical if it weren't for one with more ginger than brown as well as the said ginger-brown one having mousier brown eyes. After the crowd settled down, Reedstar cleared his throat as if he was about to say more, but sat back and waited for a different clan leader to give their report. The WindClan leader, Bluestar, took this chance to take the attention of all the felines around him.

"WindClan, like RiverClan, has been fed well and has had peace. We, as well, have two new apprentices, whose names are Petalpaw and Lionpaw," he announced, noticeably less enthusiastic as Reedstar. Still, Petalpaw and Lionpaw got their fair amount of applause and recognition. It wasn't too hard to find these two, seeing as the WindClan crowd was right beside ThunderClan, and the apprentice I guessed to be Lionpaw was sticking his chest out with pride, while Petalpaw was sitting beside him, a little shocked from the attention but excited anyways. Bluestar stepped back, the same serious expression he always had still present on his face. The announcements of the clans were short today, and I was surprised there wasn't any trouble thus far.

As I turned my head towards the ShadowClan cats, who I guessed were going to be the next to go, the seething leader hissed menacingly as she stepped forward, shoulders hunched above her head, eyes glaring at the fellow leaders beside her. I spoke too soon about there being no trouble, didn't I?

"Of course, all has been well for the RiverClan and WindClan cats, fat from prey and bathing in the relaxation of peace like little kittypets!" Silverstar snarled, harsh and cold blue eyes looking at all the felines around her, as if she was searching for the perpetrator of an unforgivable crime. In response, almost everyone attending the gathering began to whisper and murmur to each other, some even glaring at Silverstar. The WindClan and RiverClan cats had began to make their voice known until the furious ShadowClan leader yowled for silence. Everything was suddenly quiet. Nobody dared to speak any further as of now.

"How confident and brave you are, glaring at me, are you not?" the silver-gray leader continued, eyes still looking around as she said,"Well, my warriors have been catching the obvious scents of both WindClan _and_ RiverClan inside our borders and territory as well as on abandoned, dead prey." RiverClan and WindClan began to yowl and holler in defense until the glare of Silverstar fell upon them. Silence hung in the air for many moments before the leader suddenly shrieked out.

"Admit it, Bluestar and Reedstar! In your quietude you are only proving to me of your cowardly behavior!" The crowd jumped, and small whimpers of young apprentices were heard. The dark sky was beginning to become covered with clouds. Silverstar did seem to notice this as her hard expression and glare softened a tiny slither. Yet nobody still spoke.

"I shall end this here. But ShadowClan will be alert and ready, fellow clan leaders," The crowd was still wary, but a sense of relief washed over me and I relaxed my muscles, which I just now noticed were tense. For the first time since the gathering started, I looked over at Brindlepaw. She too seemed to have just loosened tense muscles and let go of a sense of fear.

"This is pretty crazy, huh?" I whispered. She quietly nodded.

"I've always known and heard you don't want to catch Silverstar angry, but this..."she didn't continue, though it wasn't like she needed to. I knew exactly what she was thinking. Sweetfern, who must've heard us talking, gently shushed us before looking up at our own leader, Thornstar. He didn't seem to be too happy, either. But he gave a quick report of ThunderClan anyway, seemingly eager to finish this gathering. I would be too, if I was leader.

"ThunderClan is well. We are grateful for what we have, and are sorry to hear of the disagreements of the rest of the clans. We shall not dig further into your disputes however. This gathering is now over," he quickly stated before leaping down from his high perch on the tree where the leaders sat to lead the clan back towards the ThunderClan camp. Everybody was whispering and talking of the gathering on the way back, excluding Brindlepaw and I. We were silent the whole way back, for we knew the other was as equally as exhausted as our own selves. As soon as we made it back, we ignored Icepaw and Snowpaw, who were asking us what had happening and plopped in our nests and fell straight to sleep.


End file.
